Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

Meanwhile, at the First Steel Rolling Mill, the official in the office who had spoken with Wan Sheng was furious.

Being verbally abused to one's face is the most humiliating thing, and no man can stand it.

But he had no power to retaliate; he was just a section chief. He could only go to Yang Ligong, report the matter to him, and embellish it with some exaggeration.

Upon arriving at the factory director's office, he immediately began to voice his grievances against Yang Ligong:

"Factory manager, Hongxing was so rude! He pointed his finger at me and cursed at me, saying he had no one to take but his life, and then he said something I don't know whether I should say or not..."

Yang Ligong stared at him:

"Comrade Meng Lin, just say what you have to say."

"He said to have Yang Ligong come in person... or get out of here as soon as possible." After saying this, Section Chief Meng Lin closed his eyes, waiting for Yang Ligong's thunderous rage.

Yang Ligong did not fly into a rage as expected, but instead crossed his legs and smiled.

Meng Lin opened his eyes and saw the factory manager smiling at him. He couldn't help but wonder, "Aren't you angry about this?"

"That's it?" Yang Ligong waved him out.

After Meng Lin left the office, Yang Ligong could no longer hold back and cursed at the air in his hometown dialect:

"Li Jiuzhou, I'm so stupid, you're eating shit!"

After venting his frustrations, Yang Ligong sat down again to think things over.

His decision to have his subordinates do this was indeed a test of Li Jiuzhou's intentions.

As a result, this guy didn't give him any face at all.

Is being a factory manager really that awesome?

As expected of a 28-year-old official, he certainly has some skills.

Yang Ligong's attitude towards Li Jiuzhou has changed from initial disdain to high admiration.

From the day Li Jiuzhou joined the factory, Yang Ligong was already a factory director at the level of a department director.

Li Jiuzhou was a chef, and a renowned chef in Beiping known as Mr. Yu, a top chef who had participated in several state banquets.

Being addressed as "Mr." as a cook made Yang Ligong feel somewhat dissatisfied.

I'm a professor at Tsinghua University, so I humbly accept being called "Mr." by others, since it's a title I truly deserve!

But you, a cook, dare to call someone "sir"?

Isn't this like a cotton ball popping out of a gutter? Hilarious...

That's fine, Li Jiuzhou is just a cook at best, it doesn't affect Yang Ligong's career.

Besides, Li Jiuzhou did indeed help the factory a lot after joining and made many great contributions.

Even during that crisis, if Li Jiuzhou hadn't discovered it in time, Yang Ligong's situation would have been far worse than just being demoted.

Even now, after all these years, I, Yang Ligong, am still the same factory director at the provincial level.

Li Jiuzhou has made numerous contributions over the years, which has also attracted the attention and recognition of his superiors.

He was subsequently promoted through various channels, and now Li Jiuzhou is on par with him.

Meanwhile, his uncle Li Huaide took advantage of the situation to oust him and become the top leader of Hongxing.

He said it was a neutral stance, but in reality, he was making way for the uncle and nephew, which made him feel a bit resentful.

But Yang Ligong has now come to some understanding.

If he had taken a different approach in the past, he might have been able to hitch a ride with Secretary Nie.

Secretary Nie definitely hitched a ride, rising all the way to the Ministry of Metallurgy and gaining real power thanks to the contributions of his subordinates!

Yang Ligong thought this way because he could clearly also take advantage of this opportunity.

After all, he was the factory director at the time, and Li Huaide and Li Jiuzhou were his subordinates.

If he had cultivated good relations back then, it's possible that it would be Yang himself working at the Ministry of Metallurgy now.

It's not just possible, it's certain!

The merits of subordinates are equivalent to those of leaders; this cannot be faked.

But unfortunately, he didn't get along well with the uncle and nephew.

Yang Ligong only realized this during this period, but it was too late.

The Li family uncle and nephew, together, were no less capable than themselves.

Let alone all of them, Li Huaide alone could have beaten him to a pulp.

Fortunately, I didn't have any conflicts with the Li family uncle and nephew, and we got along quite well in the following years.

After figuring it out, Yang Ligong picked up the phone on the table and pressed a few buttons:

"Hello, connect me to the office of Director Hongxing."

Li Jiuzhou had just returned from urinating when the phone rang. He answered it without thinking.

"Hello, this is Li Jiuzhou!"

A hearty laugh came from the other end of the phone:

"Hahaha, Jiuzhou, can you recognize who I am?"

Li Jiuzhou, of course, recognized who it was, and feigned surprise:

"Oh, isn't this our old factory director, our former boss? You're such a busy man, what brings you to call me?"

"Hahahaha, you're deliberately trying to embarrass me, aren't you? I know everything that happened this morning. I apologize to you. Your subordinates didn't know their place and were just playing the piano haphazardly." Yang Ligong started shifting the blame, which was just standard practice for a leader.

Li Jiuzhou knew very well:

"Oh, old factory director, look at what you're saying, I didn't even take it to heart."

"But I'd like to ask, is Yi Zhonghai's first factory absolutely necessary?"

Upon hearing Yi Zhonghai's name, Yang Ligong's smile vanished, and he immediately said:

"Jiuzhou, to be honest, this Yi Zhonghai is outrageous. He tried to disembark as soon as I left. He really doesn't respect me at all!"

"You be the judge, is this even reasonable?"

Li Jiuzhou chimed in, "That's really outrageous; they need to be taught a lesson."

Yang Ligong was delighted upon hearing this:

"So, are you going to release them or not?"

Li Jiuzhou hesitated for a moment after hearing this:

"Um...this...Old factory director, this Yi Zhonghai is an eighth-level fitter."

"You see, you applied to the Ministry of Metallurgy for personnel, but the Ministry of Metallurgy definitely didn't agree, so they asked for our factory's opinion."

"It's obvious that this isn't asking for the opinions of us leaders, but rather for Yi Zhonghai's own opinion."

"He just made a great contribution, and he's an eighth-level fitter; we can't just make the decision ourselves!"

"Yi Zhonghai's personal opinion is still very important."

Li Jiuzhou has made his point clear, and the Ministry of Metallurgy's metaphor does indeed convey this meaning.

Yang Ligong understood, and so he said:

"So you're saying you won't stop Yi Zhonghai if he wants to leave?"

Upon hearing this, Li Jiuzhou smiled:

"Why would I stop you? It's like the sky wanting to rain or a mother wanting to remarry. But old factory manager, if you're leaving, you'll have to replace an eighth-grade fitter with one, otherwise... well... you know what I mean?"

Yang Ligong understood; it was a one-for-one deal, so the business was feasible.

"Okay, it's settled then. I'll communicate with Yi Zhonghai."

"Okay, then you go ahead with your work."

After hanging up the phone, Li Jiuzhou thought for a moment and then had someone call Yi Zhonghai over.

Yi Zhonghai arrived shortly afterward.

"Ninth... Factory Director, you wanted to see me?" Yi Zhonghai said respectfully.

"Sit down!" Li Jiuzhou pointed to the chair in front of the desk.

Keeping to official business, Li Jiuzhou didn't try to get close to Yi Zhonghai, and casually handed him the documents from the Ministry of Metallurgy:

"Director Yi, please take a look first."

Yi Zhonghai took the document and looked at it carefully. The more he looked, the more nervous he became. Finally, he let out a long sigh of relief.

He then asked Li Jiuzhou:

"Factory manager, how did the leaders make their decisions?"

Li Jiuzhou poured him a cup of tea and grinned:

"We won't stop you..."

Yi Zhonghai was shocked upon hearing this:

"No...no, boss! Yang Ligong is going to get me! He's going to get me!"